Green Smoothie Revolution WINNER!
Congrats to Nadia (comment #19)…the winner of our book drawing! Her comment was:
LOVED IT!!!!!! I feel soooo much better now. Last month at this time, I was tired, achy, bloaty, and had terrible skin and my hormones were all over the place. I have faithfully drank my green smoothy every morning for the last month and the change that I can see if my self is incredible! 10.5 pounds gone! Mood swings, gone! Coffee, gone!! My skin looks awesome! I am so thankful that I came across your site when I did! Thanks Sara!
Thanks to all for sharing!
Green Smoothie Challenge Testimonials & A GIVEAWAY!
Congratulations to all of you who completed the 30 day challenge! I would LOVE to hear how drinking green smoothies has changed your eating habits and your thoughts about food, etc. Please share your testimonial about the green goodness!!
As a little thank you for sharing your testimony, your name will be entered into a giveaway for a copy of “Green Smoothie Revolution” by Victoria Boutenko. I will announce a winner on Sept. 28!
Foody Blog Love
I am constantly encouraged and entertained by reading blogs. It’s so fun to walk alongside someone in their journey…even though I don’t even know them personally, and come away feeling refreshed and energized! Here are some that I am enjoying lately:
Heather Eats Almond Butter: Love this one. Heather eats a variety of foods and has a great story behind it all. She’s funny, cute, and she loves almond butter as much as I do 🙂
Choosing Raw: Good stuff here…yummy recipes and tons of information/FAQ on the raw diet.
Radical Radiance: Courtney lives and works at Tree of Life in Patagonia, AZ…one of the many places I want to visit someday! Her blog always has great food photos, and she’s very open and honest about her journey with raw. Love it.
Extreme Diets: Not a blog, but something fun. I’m so sad that I missed this re-airing last night, but there is another one on the 29th. Tivo it if you’re not up in the early hours of the morning 🙂 It looks like a fun show…with one of the participants being a raw food chef. I can’t pass that up!
Women Go Raw: A month-long west coast tour (started on 9/1) with some big names in the raw movement. Sign up on their blog for updates. There is also a fun little video of their eco-RV they are traveling in. And you know how I love RV’s! 🙂
Raw Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms
This delicious little number is from Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen. If you want to go raw and need a good “starting out” cookbook, I love this one. Get the DVD too and you’re all set! This was my first raw cookbook and it’s super inspirational. This recipe is great as an appetizer or an entree.
Raw Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms
18-22 button mushrooms, washed and stemmed
Stuffed with:
1 cup walnuts
½ cup pine nuts
2 cups basil
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
½ t sea salt
Place mushroom caps top side down on dehydrator tray. Blend the stuffing in the food processor and scoop a small amount into each mushroom.
Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 5-6 hours until soft. Serve with a large green salad and enjoy!
And The Winner Is…
We have a WINNER!! Congratulations to Heather, who wrote the following comment:
“Oh…my word! Our vegan cafe has this and I’ve been looking for it everywhere! Yippeee for giveaway’s. I get inspiration from everyone I meet, I think there is inspiration all around us.”
If you love this banner…be sure to head over to Green Leafy for your own! Thanks for playing…have a great weekend!
Smoothie Kids
Green smoothies are a wonderful way to nourish your children! It’s pretty rare to find a 5 year old who will sit down and eat a big spinach salad…but throw that salad into the blender with some sweet fruits and THEY WILL! Here are a few tips for those of you who want to get more greens into your kiddos:
- If your child doesn’t like the green color, add blueberries (or any dark berry) and it will make it purple!
- Try to avoid fruit with small seeds (blackberries, etc)…they tend not to blend so well and the texture might bother some kids.
- Get a fun straw! And make sure it has a wide opening…the faster it comes out, the more they will drink.
- Get a special cup…just for their smoothies. One that isn’t clear and has a lid works well for disguising the color. Bella likes her pink small coffee travel mug from Starbucks.
- Make up a fun name! Some that I’ve heard lately: “Berry Blast”, “Princess Power Smoothie”, and “Hulk Smash Smoothie”. It’s amazing what they will drink when it has a cool sounding name.
- If you have a rather selective eater…avoid using the words “green” and “smoothie” in the same sentence. Same with “spinach” and “kale”. Tends to send them running.
- Get them a smoothie buddy. If little Suzy Q who lives next door loves smoothies, your kiddo will probably jump on the band wagon. Of course, this can backfire if Suzy Q really hates the smoothies 🙂 Kids are very impressionable.
- Give them ownership of the smoothie by letting them pick out the ingredients. I have found that when Bella gets to put everything in the blender, run the buttons, etc…she is much more excited to drink it.
- If they don’t like the green smoothies at first…start them off with a regular fruit smoothie (or “pink smoothie” as it’s known in our house).
- Sneak in other healthy goodies like hemp seeds or chia while you’re at it…they won’t taste a thing!
- For a fun treat, make them a yummy chocolate smoothie.
- If you’re wanting to increase their calories, add raw almond butter or avocado to their smoothie.
Overall, kids will eventually imitate what they see repeated. If they see you enjoying a green smoothie every day during the challenge…they’re going to wonder what they are missing! This goes for spouses as well 🙂
Share your stories about your kids and green smoothies! Do they have a favorite recipe? What did you name it? How have they reacted to you drinking them?
Green Leafy Banner Giveaway!
When I was at my last midwife appointment with Rebecca, I saw that she had this fabulous banner from Green Leafy at her office and I knew I just HAD to have one. AND…I loved it so much that I bought an extra one to give away to one lucky reader of Happy Foody! The banner (34″ x 7″) is laminated shows all the food sources for the vitamins and minerals we need. It’s a great learning tool for kids and adults!
I will choose a winner at random on Friday, August 28 at noon. To enter to win, just leave a comment below and answer the following question:
What/who inspires you?
(doesn’t have to be food related)
One Week Down!
One week down…three to go! Congratulations to all of you who are participating in the Green Smoothie Challenge of 2009! I’ve been hearing great things from the trenches…weight loss, increased energy and clarity, and kids joining in! Great things are happening…because of green smoothies 🙂 Keep it up!
After the first week, you have probably started to figure out where your weaknesses are. Focus on those this week and overcome them. For some of you, it’s the no sugar thing. Continue to cut them out of your diet, and have a “plan” for those times that you do crave them. Don’t just stand there helplessly…FIGHT those cravings! First of all, if you still have candy and soft drinks in the house…GET RID OF IT! Give it away to your friends who don’t want to be healthy! If it’s there, you will eat it. Don’t kid yourself. I find that a cup of hot tea works wonders, or even just drinking a big glass of water. You can also fill that craving with a sweet fruit like watermelon or berries. The less sugar you consume, the less you will crave it.
For some of you, it’s the exercise thing. You just cannot find time to fit it in no matter what you do. But I guarantee you that you will find time for things that you are passionate about…whether it be keeping up with friends and family on Facebook, sewing/knitting, reading, watching TV, etc. Look at your day and figure out where your time is spent…and then carve out 15 minutes of that time to BE ACTIVE. Go outside and walk around the block 4 times. Do some stretching before you go to bed at night. Start small, document your journey, and keep moving forward.
Even if this first week was really hard and you only did one smoothie all week, go into this second week with renewed determination. Be gentle on yourself, but stick to the challenge. It’s worth it!
Photo: This is my fabulous friend Heather
who is due with her 8th baby TODAY!
Can’t wait to hear the big news Heth!
You can read her hilarious blog here.
Happy Wrapping
I love romaine lettuce. It’s soooo crunchy and can be used in many different ways. One of my favorites is to use it as a wrap for other yummy food. In the photo above, I had zucchini hummus, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, and avocado. Wrap it all up and there you go! You have a quick and easy meal.
Another favorite is the walnut meat tacos. Be sure to try those babies…they will knock your socks off! In that recipe, I made it as a salad, but you can also wrap them in romaine leaves. Side note…those are my “stand by” recipes for salsa and guacamole. They’re amazing. And that cashew “sour cream” could be used on just about anything.
And lastly, on a variation of the recipe above, comes probably the fastest raw meal around…salsa and guacamole in a romaine leaf. So tasty and satisfying!
Happy Wrapping!
Q & A with Sara: A Happy Foody Video [8.20.09]
Here is a new Q & A session for you…with the following topics covered:
- Maintaining weight on a raw diet
- Starting out with raw foods
- Raw on a budget
- Eating in other’s homes
- My thoughts on Truvia
- Buying chia at the best price
- The Dairy Question
- Indigestion on raw foods
- Eating healthy as a family
- Starting chia with kids
- Eating raw in Italy
- The Soy Question
I filmed this last week, and I’m just now getting around to posting it. They take a long time for me to render/edit and post (especially since I’m new to this video stuff!)…and I just haven’t had a lot of time! Hope you enjoy…post your questions below for the next Q & A.
Happy Foody 